Infection control has always been an important issue for hospitals. Now the landscape is changing and it is pushing this issue to the forefront. Hospital-acquired, drug-resistant infections are increasing dramatically. The emergence of drug-resistant infections has only compounded this issue.
In many states, hospitals are already required to publish their “hospital acquired” infection rates. In 2008, this will be a national requirement. Both health maintenance organizations and the public are seeking out hospitals with the best infection control. In addition, the primary hospital accreditation group, the Joint Commission on the Accreditation of Hospital Organizations (JCAHO), has recently been imposing new standards on hospitals requiring them to record when, where, and by whom each piece of equipment was cleaned and disinfected.
Keeping equipment clean can dramatically lower the incidence of infections. Presently, there is little equipment to wash high touch, intimate contact items, particularly hospital stretchers and intravenous (IV) poles. Often, hospital stretchers may get only a cursory alcohol wipe down, while many IV poles never get cleaned at all. Health care industry “timed tasking” standards say it takes one hour and ten minutes to properly hand clean a hospital stretcher.
One medical equipment washer presently on the market appears to be an adapted piece of dairy cleaning equipment. It is ineffective, very slow, and has no recording or documentation capabilities. In addition, each new location requires the equipment to be individually designed and configured, making mass production impractical. In addition, this equipment has mild steel components that rust and slip joints that leak.